


Exhausted Sentimentality

by authoredAria



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Pining, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, breaking news: sleepy dex is a cuddler, handyman dex, just gratuitous fluff tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 12:40:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6956815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/authoredAria/pseuds/authoredAria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dex is good at fixing things. Of course, no matter how good someone is at repairing things, some jobs take hours upon hours of work. The fact that Betsy the Oven ends up being one of those jobs is grating on Dex's nerves. He never expected his stubborn insistence on working the night through to repair the oven for Bitty would end so well. </p><p>Or- Dex stays up all night to fix the oven, and his sentimental depths make Nursey fall 89247% more in love with him, Betsy the Oven is a bit of a matchmaker, and the Toxic Couch™ is the perfect cuddle spot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Exhausted Sentimentality

Honestly, Dex should have known that the day before his one day of the week that he had no classes would be the day that Betsy is on the fritz again. It was going to be just his luck to unlock his phone while he took a break from his studying at the library and see Bitty’s text asking if he could take a look at the ancient oven. He’s pretty sure that even when the oven was brand new it wasn’t meant to be used even half as much as Bitty used it on a daily basis. As much as they all loved Bitty and his amazing cooking, Dex had to admit that it was tiring to know he'd have to fix the oven for the fourth time in the last three months. He was good at repairs, but even he struggled to be patient with faulty appliances. 

As much as he wanted to decline and enjoy his day off, Dex texted back an affirmative that he would take a look at what was wrong and fix it. The response full of heart emojis and smiling emojis, and the enthusiastic “Thank you Dex!!!!” just cemented that it was the right response. 

Dex wouldn't have actually declined to do the repairs. He never could turn that job down. Repairing things was just necessary. Sure, Jack had offered before to buy a new oven, but Bitty loved old Betsy. Not only was there sentimental reasoning, but Dex just about never threw something out of it could be repaired. He hated wasting things. Growing up with four siblings and both his parents working to make ends meet comfortably, they never really did have the money to replace everything whenever it merely acted up. Dex learned from his father to fix things and use them until they were broken beyond repair. Even then, they could often take things to his Uncle Craig's shop for professional repairs at a family discount, or sell the parts and use that money to buy a new one. Years of just repairing things both to save money and to save memories surmounted to an abundance of tinkering skills that led him to be the Haus handyman. Hopefully, that would at least ensure he got dibs.

Dex packed up his things, letting out a gentle sigh as he did so. The walk to the Haus was just filled with mentally trying to run through possible problems with the oven. Whatever was the issue with Betsy, this time, was more than just being slow to heat up and a few degrees off like the oven was prone to be at times. Dex only hoped he could solve the problem with relative ease. He was glad that he kept his tool box at the Haus. It meant he didn’t have to walk all over campus at the very least. 

Stepping through the door of the Haus, the smell of uncooked dough, buttery and yeasty filled his nose as Dex walked into the kitchen, his nose scrunching up a bit at the scent. It wasn’t pleasant, not like the sugary, fruity and spiced scents that usually filled the kitchen, warm cinnamon and sweet vanilla on the air on most days. Bitty’s sulking at the kitchen table, looking at the dingy, stained, off-white oven with as morose of an expression as he could muster. It was almost pathetic really, akin to a puppy pouting over being unable to reach and use its favorite toy. Bitty doesn't even seem to notice that Dex was there, not until the redhead was walking across the kitchen towards the pantry, where his toolbox and utility belt were stored on the floor after how often he repaired various things in the kitchen. 

“Lord, thank goodness you could come help, Dex,” Bitty said, lilting voice genuinely thankful and relieved. It makes Dex smile gently. 

“Of course. You asked me to help, right?” he said kindly to Bitty. Bitty was the only person he made sure to constantly be polite to. Everyone made sure to be polite. Chirp the hell out of the team mom sometimes, but polite at all times. He wasn't going to show his annoyance. “What's the issue this time?” he asked, assuming it was one of the simple issues that took under an hour to fix. 

“I'm not sure about how to technically explain it,” Bitty said, and Dex nodded. He hadn't expected a technical explanation anyway. “But it isn't heating up at all. It was on, and I thought it was heating, but it's just being a right wonky mess.” The explanation wasn't perfect, not at all, but it already got Dex thinking of what might be wrong. The temperature unit probably had something wrong with it, which was already making him inwardly groan a bit, but he kept a grin on his face as he stepped over and pulled the oven away from the wall with a little grunt, making sure it was unplugged as well. 

“Alright. I'll take a look at old Betsy, figure out the issue and all,” Dex promised, earning a bright grin from Bitty. The blond got up and hugged him tight, thanking him repeatedly, even as Dex awkwardly brushed off the thanks. He cleared his throat and let out a breath when Bitty left, claiming he had to work on some homework for the evening. Dex was left on his own, with his thoughts and the feeling of dread that he had a long night of tinkering ahead of him. 

Jack had, previously, offered to buy a new oven to surprise Bitty, but Dex had been adamantly against that. Part of him hated that he'd insisted that he'd keep up with maintaining the oven instead of letting Jack buy a new one. Bitty loved the oven, though, probably almost as much, if not more, than he loved the team. Dex was determined to make Betsy work until Bitty graduated. Then he could let the damned thing get tossed to the curb. He'd ignore his “use it til it breaks” mentality for that. 

Eleven o'clock, well a bit past that, and Dex just started working on the oven after shooing Bitty upstairs. He adored Bitty, but it was hard to work with him watching like a “helicopter mom” to his oven. It let Dex focus on his work. It wasn't long until he figured out the problem. The igniter was malfunctioning, probably caused by some wiring issues. Simple issue. Difficult to fix. Especially given that the oven wasn't a model he was familiar with, given that it was so old. 

The best way to repair the issue, based on what Dex could figure out, would be to take the oven apart to get deep into the wiring and fix the problem. The minute Dex realized that, he inwardly groaned. God dammit. That was going to take forever and he knew it. All he had to think of was how upset Bitty had looked about Betsy not working, and it made Dex certain that he would have to spend as much time as necessary to fix the problem.

Only after making coffee (with the coffee maker he repaired two weeks before) to make sure he could stay awake, did Dex settle on the floor to begin working. With Betsy pulled out, unplugged, and his toolbox open, Dex focused entirely on the job ahead of him. Everything else melted away. His focus had to be on the oven. He took parts out, moved wires, tried to keep track of what went where. He ignored the grease getting smeared on his hands and paid little mind to the dust tickling his nose every time he disturbed a dusty part of the oven’s innards. Time didn’t really register to Dex, didn’t matter really. He worked slowly, trying to stay organized, putting parts in specific spots on the floor, trying to memorize what went where inside the oven. 

“Dude.” Hearing someone speak made Dex jump. He had gotten used to the silence of working by himself before a deep voice with an obnoxious (cute) New York accent broke the calming quiet in the room. “What are you doing?” When Dex looked up, he almost froze entirely. Nursey was standing in the doorway of the kitchen. In pajamas. Flannel pajama pants, to be precise, that hung low on his hips and his curly hair was mused. He looked every bit comfy, adorable, annoying, amazing. Dex was not about to ever admit that even a sleepy Derek nurse was a gorgeous Derek Nurse. 

“Working. What does it look like I'm doing?” Dex answered, continuing to clear out the oven, cleaning every part as he went. No sense in leaving things dusty.

“It's nearly half past one,” Nursey stated, stepping into the kitchen and towards the fridge. “What are you doing up?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Dex retorted, looking Nursey up and down.

“Spending the night. C and I were studying for our gen ed math course.” Well, that made sense at least. Once he grabbed a bottle of water, Dex assumed Nursey would have left. Instead, his fellow Daman hopped up onto the counter by Dex and sat there. “Why are you mauling an oven in the middle of the night? Is this some sort of weird mental breakdown? Should I be worried?” 

“Shut up, I'm not mauling it,” Dex snapped, annoyance obvious in his tone. “I'm repairing it, idiot.”

Nursey looked apprehensive, sipping from his water bottle. “Dude. It looks like a skeleton. You've taken almost everything out of it. How is that fixing it?”

Dex could only huff a bit. The distraction was of no help to him, but he wasn't going to get Nursey to leave him alone. Stubborn bastard. He set down the part he was holding, rubbing tired lyrics at his face, promptly smearing grease on his cheek and along his nose. “Look, this oven is all kinds of old and damaged. To fix the issue, I have to get to it, which results in this,” he said, motioning to the parts around him on the floor, “so trust me, I'm fixing it. It's just going to be a bigger matter than last time. So shut up about me mauling the oven.”

Nursey just stared at Dex a moment, making the redhead frown and fidget. There was a moment of silence before Nursey blew out a breath. “Wow. Okay. I'll stop distracting you then.”

“No, wait,” Dex interrupted, sighing softly. “It's fine. I'm just trying to focus on fixing this for Bitty. That's all.” Dex, as much as Nursey was infuriating, didn't want to entirely upset Nursey. He was growing more and more stressed since being up early for morning practice that day. 

“Okay…” Nursey spoke slowly, seeming a bit uncertainly about the matter. He slid off the counter, stretching slightly. “Still, would be easier to just buy a new one, but whatever. I'll let you get back to work,” Nursey gave a small smile as he spoke before he walked out of the kitchen. Dex stared after him for a moment before letting out a breath and getting back to work. 

The rest of the night, Dex was alone. No one else came into the kitchen. Dex found himself wishing Nursey had stayed, but he'd never admit to longing for his company. 

It was a stressful night really. Dex stayed up all night. At times he took short breaks when he was stumped, his hands cramped, or he just needed a moment of reprise. By morning, Dex pushed the oven back into place, completely put back together, cleaned top to bottom, and in working order. He got the oven plugged in and against the wall before anyone came down for the morning. He was exhausted, yawning and stretching, but he got the oven fixed, and that was all that mattered to him. 

“Oh!” Bitty’s voice made Dex look up, and he smiled at the team's “mom”. “Dex, what are you doing in here so early? Is Betsy doing better?”

“Got up early, so I came over to fix her up,” Dex lied. He knew it wasn't a good lie, especially still seeing as he had on yesterday's clothes. He just didn't want to deal with Bitty’s concern, especially as some of the others came walking into the kitchen, bleary-eyed and rubbing away the hints of grogginess. He could feel Nursey's eyes bore into him when he walked into the kitchen, and Dex simply didn't look at him. 

“You didn't have to get up early to fix old Betsy,” Bitty said, but he was still smiling as he walked to the oven and turned it on. He was delighted to see it turned on just fine. “But thank you so much for doing so, Dex!”

“No problem, Bitty,” Dex answered simply, brushing it off and doing his best to hide a yawn. “it was a really simple fix.” As he lied, he could feel Nursey's gaze intensify on his back. Again, Dex pointedly didn't look at his partner. As the team began to settle down for Bitty to start whipping up a team breakfast, Dex excused himself out of the kitchen. He just needed a moment to be away from Nursey, to breathe, to rub at his eyes and wonder why he stayed up all night to work even though he already knew why he did it. He didn’t notice he had been followed until someone else cleared their throat in the living room. 

“Easy fix, huh?” Nursey’s tone was dripping with sarcasm as Dex turned around to face him. 

“Yeah, easy, “ Dex said, but he knew Nursey didn't believe, which made him sigh. “Look, just let Bitty believe it. It was easy once I figured it out and kept organized, he answered simply. 

“Bullshit,” Nursey retorted, continuing before Dex could speak to defend himself. “You were stressing all about it last night. And I could hear you up at almost four when Chowder accidentally woke me up. You worked your ass off on that hunk of junk. I don't get why.”

Dex just sighed, silent for a moment before he just shrugged a bit. “It's needed to be fixed. I'm used to using a thing until it can't be fixed anymore. Not all of us can replace things that easy.”

“You could have had the team get together and buy a new one. Jack could have bought a better over just by himself.” Nursey was very matter of fact as he spoke. “Why not just let us buy a new, better oven, instead of doing all the work?”

“Because,” Dex answered, “it’s not about the oven.” The look Nursey gave him showed the other's confusion. He knew he had to describe more. Maybe it was just the lack of sleep, but Dex was genuine as he spoke, deep and sentimental in a way he normally avoided being, rambling as he spoke. “Sometimes you get attached to things. You come to value something, even if it's not perfect. So it's worth something to you, something big. It's worth the hard work to fix it just for that level of sentimentality. The oven means a lot to Bitty. He loved Betsy. So, the feelings connected to it matter more than just buying a new one to avoid all the hard work.”

Nursey just stared at Dex, and it made the ginger fidget uncomfortably. All he wanted was a moment away from the team when they all awoke. He hadn't wanted to discuss feelings with Nursey. He assumed the other would chirp him over it. It was just near to impossible to keep a filter with how tired he was. Dex dropped onto the toxic couch with a sigh, avoiding looking at Nursey. Even if the couch was disgusting, he sunk into the soft cushions, just wanting to be away from potential teasing, and just wanting to sleep. 

Dex didn't expect a blanket to be thrown over him, or for the cushions to sink further as a weight settled beside him. When Dex lifted his head, Nursey was sitting beside him, entirely silent for a moment. 

“We don't have practice today. And I know you don't have a class until later today,” Nursey spoke, rather than comment on Dex’s speech on sentimentality. “So relax. Get some sleep. You deserve it after doing all that for Bitty.”

Maybe it was how deeply exhausted he was growing. Maybe it was how warm Nursey was beside him. Maybe it was how soft the expression on the poet's face was. Dex really had no explanation for himself. All he knew was that he found himself leaning against Nursey, nuzzling his cheek to his shoulder and letting out a content hum when a strong arm wrapped around his shoulders. If he was fully awake, Dex would have been mortified about curling up against Nursey’s side, but instead, he just snuggled up against him and pulled the blanket over the both of them. 

“Thanks, Nursey…” Dex mumbled and turned his head. It took a long moment for him to realize he had pressed a lazy, soft kiss to Nursey's shoulder. That had him tensing up, ready to move away and make his escape. Nursey's arm tightened his arm around his shoulders to hold him in place before Dex could move. His arm dropped to wrap around his waist, earning a blush from Dex.

“You're welcome, Dexy,” Nursey mumbled, and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Dex's head. He relaxed, smiling softly to himself as he and Nursey curled up against each other. He knew they should talk about the shows of affection, but they didn't matter, not in that moment. Dex felt safe, felt warm and comfortable, felt cared for. He didn't want to worry about talking anymore. 

By the time breakfast was done and Bitty went to invite them to join the team loudly chattering in the kitchen, both D-men were asleep. Nursey's lips were pressed against the top of Dex's head, Dex's legs draped over Nursey's lap and his body tucked against his chest. No one dared to wake either boy up again as they cuddled and caught up on sleep together. 

Maybe staying up to repair an ancient over paid off more than Dex could have ever imagined.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fanfic for the CP! fandom, and I hope I did my tadpole babies justice.  
> Disclaimer, I know nothing about repairing anything, and the idea for what Dex had to fix came from the wonderful advantagetexas, so excuse my lack of understanding of how anything with wires works.  
> Some feedback would be really, really appreciated, and I just hope people actually like this! :)  
> Also excuse the title, I suck at making up titles.


End file.
